One month and 3 stitches later…

9 euro stitches

the feel-better meal after receiving stitches

Things haven’t gone so smoothly this week. I clumsily fell on some stairs at Metro Louis Blanc at about 10pm last Tuesday. My face was bleeding quite a bit and Christina thought the gash was deep enough to require stitches. We rushed to the nearest hospital and within an hour, I was stitched up and released. Amazing! I was told to return in two days for a check up and then 8 days to remove the stitched. How much do you think this would have cost someone in the states? Hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars for an emergency room visit, 3 stitched, and two appointments? 9 Euros. I asked, “C’est tout?” She replied (in french), “You only had stiches, right? That’s all.” I almost told her to keep the change when I handed her a 10. On top of that, I never had to make an appointment. I just showed up and they took care of me immediately. No waiting! Simply unbelievable.

weird store in montmartre

Last Monday we received a letter from the landlord informing us of some contruction needing to take place in the bathroom. Our shower has been leaking on the tenents below. The letter states that the construction will only take two days and that we must be home to let in the workers. So we gave up on our original plan to hitchhike to the ocean and stayed home. Well, it has been 1 week and the shower isn’t even close to completion. Besides not showering for a week, we’ve had to cancel our plans and stick around every day to let in the workers. So annoying!

vintage italian beads from weird store

I don’t mind going a few days without a shower, but I feel totally uncomfortable once my hair becomes greasy. Well, I passed the greasy stage long ago and now I think I’m forming dreadlocks. We were nearing the end of our stay in the apartment and desperately wanted to shower before leaving. In our desperation, we decided to ask the neighbors by slipping the following note under their doors:

more weirdness

“Hello– We are two women staying on the second floor.  Our shower has been under construction since Wednesday, the 25th.  The management told us the construction would only take 2 days, but it is not even close to completion after 6 days. Needless to say, we would desperately like to shower. We would be greatly appreciative if anyone could offer us the use of their shower on Monday, the 29th. Please call us anytime (09.50.43.00.00) or ring the doorbell (second floor, middle apartment). Thank you so much in advance. Expect infinite friendship and very bad French.”

Trees decorated with colored plastic at the canal

We didn’t receive any offers.

So we visited a pool at the recommendation of one of the guys who normally live in the apartment. Closed. The next step was to see if one of the nearby Turkish baths would let us take a shower for a couple of Euros. They wanted 13-30 per shower. We felt that was too much.

dancing on the street

our apartment

And this ends our month together in Paris. Christina helped me move to my new home in a suberb called Maison-Alfort. We returned to the apartment to pick up Christina’s belongings before taking her to the train station. Overall, it has been a very pleasant month. I’m fond of the location of the apartment, even though I’m told it’s supposed to be in a poor neighborhood. It feels real. Real people live there and it seems hidden from tourists. We were conveniently situated between the canals and the Metros, around the corner from the algerian bakery, and right by the asian market. It has been nice.

we think we're really funny

on our way to get some falafel, i stopped for a pic of notre dame